Autonomous truck maker Kodiak has inked a deal with Bosch to build the hardware needed to cost-competitively scale up production of its self-driving trucks.
The deal was jointly announced at CES 2026 this week and will allow trucks to be equipped with the AI-powered Kodiak Driver either on production lines or through an upfitter.
It allows Kodiak to focus on the software behind its autonomous driving system while leaning on Bosch’s manufacturing expertise and scale for the hardware. Specifically, the deal will see Bosch provide the automotive-grade hardware, firmware and software interfaces with various components and sensors.
After the CES announcement, trucknews.com caught up with Don Burnette, Kodiak CEO and founder, to discuss the partnership and how it will influence the company’s go-to-market strategy.
“2025 was a really pivotal year for us, getting our first driverless trucks actually out there on the road in the hands of customers,” Burnette said of the company’s progress since its launch eight years ago.
“But the big question was, how are you going to leverage technology to enable scale? How do you move from five trucks, to 10 trucks, to 100 trucks into the thousands and tens of thousands? And for that, we need great, powerful, established, experienced partners and there’s no better partners than Bosch to bring that level of technology and scale to our business. We’re really not a hardware company so this partnership between Kodiak and Bosch brings the best of both worlds together.”
Kodiak currently has 10 fully driverless trucks on U.S. roads, working around the clock in both on- and off-highway applications.
Up until now, Kodiak has sourced its hardware from a “hodgepodge” group of suppliers, Burnette said. But to achieve its growth plans, which will see it delivering 100 trucks by the end of this year, the company needed a manufacturing partner that would allow it to scale.
“That requires real industrial experience at the manufacturing level to get the type of quality that you need,” he said. “We’ve worked with Tier 1 suppliers in the past, but it’s always been about specific components. We’ve brough the package together [with Bosch].”
The companies didn’t specify when the transition to the Bosch-made hardware would occur. But Burnette did say Kodiak plans to remove the safety driver from its on-road trucks later this year as it ramps up production.
The two companies still have validation work to complete, so Burnette said the switch will be a years-long journey.
“You have to start somewhere,” Burnette said. “In terms of the specific spec’s and requirements for Kodiak and our deployment at scale, this is really the start of the journey.”
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